In the European Union (EU), enhanced cooperation (previously known as closer cooperation) is a procedure where a minimum of nine EU member states are allowed to establish advanced integration or cooperation in an area within EU structures but without the other member states being involved. As of October 2017, this procedure is being used in the fields of the Schengen acquis, divorce law, patents, property regimes of international couples, and European Public Prosecutor and is approved for the field of a financial transaction tax.
This is distinct from the EU opt-out, that is a form of cooperation between EU member states within EU structures, where it is allowed for a limited number of states to refrain from participation (e.g. EMU, Schengen Area). It is further distinct from Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification and permanent acquis suspensions, whose lifting is conditional on meeting certain benchmarks by the affected member states.
History Enhanced cooperation, at that time known as closer cooperation, was introduced by the Treaty of Amsterdam for community, judicial cooperation and criminal matters. The Treaty of Nice simplified the mechanism: the right of veto which the Member States enjoyed over the establishment of enhanced cooperation has disappeared (except in the field of foreign policy), the number of Member States required for launching the procedure has changed from the majority to the fixed number of eight Member States. It also introduced cooperation for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, except for defence matters. At the same time, it stipulated that acts adopted within an enhanced cooperation do not form part of the Union acquis that new member states have to adopt. It also renamed closer cooperation to enhanced cooperation. The Treaty of Lisbon extended cooperation to include defence and additionally envisions the possibility for establishment of a permanent structured cooperation in defence. A minimum requirement of nine member states was also introduced. The provisions governing enhanced cooperation are now detailed in the Treaty on European Union (Article 20) and Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (Article 326-334).
The Schengen Agreement adoption is considered a historical inspiration for formalising the mechanism of Enhanced cooperation. It was created by European Communities member states only, but outside of its structures, in part owing to the lack of consensus amongst all member states over whether it had the competence to abolish border controls, and in part because those ready to implement the idea did not wish to wait for others. As there was no Enhanced cooperation mechanism back then it was impossible to establish it inside the Community structures from the start, but afterwards the Schengen Agreement was subsumed into European Union law by the Treaty of Amsterdam as the rules of the Schengen Area.
Usage Enhanced cooperation allows for a minimum of nine member states (which amounts to one-third at the moment) to co-operate within the structures of the EU without all member states. This allows them to move at different speeds, and towards different goals, than those outside the enhanced cooperation area. It is designed to overcome paralysis, where a proposal is blocked by the veto of an individual state or a small group who do not wish to be part of the initiative.Vucheva, Elitsa (24 July 2008) Divorce rules could divide EU states, EU Observer It does not however allow for an extension of powers outside those permitted by the treaties of the European Union and is only allowed as a last resort where objectives cannot be achieved normally. It may not discriminate against member states, it must further the objectives in the treaties and may not fall within an area which is of exclusive competence of the EU.
The mechanism needs a minimum of nine Member States, who file a request with the European Commission. If the Commission accepts it then it has to be approved by a qualified majority of all member states to proceed. A member may not veto the establishment of enhanced cooperation except for foreign policy.Enhanced cooperation, Europa
Currently in force
Schengen acquis
The Schengen acquis was originally established on an intergovernmental basis, but was later on integrated as an enhanced cooperation (at that time known as closer cooperation) into the framework of the European Union by the Treaty of Amsterdam. Ireland and the United Kingdom obtained opt-outs from the Schengen cooperation, allowing them to opt out from legal acts that build upon the Schengen acquis on a case-by-case basis. Formally speaking, the other member states are authorized to establish an enhanced cooperation among themselves and make use of the treaty provisions on such cooperations whenever Ireland (and previously also the United Kingdom) choose to opt out from a legal act that build upon the Schengen acquis.
However, the provisions on enhanced cooperation for the Schengen acquis differ somewhat from the provisions for other enhanced cooperations. For instance, the member states are automatically authorized to initiate an enhanced cooperation as soon as Ireland opt out; no separate decision has to be made in the Council. Furthermore, the Schengen acquis forms an integral part of the Union law that every acceding member state has to adopt, reflecting the provisions on enhanced cooperations in force before the Treaty of Nice.
Applicable law to divorce (Rome III)
With the rise in cross border divorce in the EU, common rules were put forward to settle the issue of under which law trans-national couples can divorce in the EU. In July 2008 nine member states put forward a proposal to use enhanced cooperation: Austria, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Romania, Slovenia and Spain. Belgium, Germany, Lithuania and Portugal were considering joining them.
At a meeting of the justice ministers on 25 July 2008, the nine states decided to formally seek the measure of enhanced cooperation; eight states (the nine states above minus France) formally requested it from the European Commission on 28 July 2008.Two-speed Europe may emerge over divorce rules, EUobserverEU members look to marry up their divorce laws , Europe World On 24 March 2010, when the law was formally proposed by the commission, Bulgaria was the tenth state to join the aforementioned eight and France. Belgium, Germany and Latvia formally joined them on 28 May 2010, while Greece withdrew.
MEPs backed the proposal in June 2010 with fourteen states willing to adopt the proposed cooperation: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Spain. These states were then authorised by the council to proceed with enhanced cooperation on 12 July 2010.Enhanced cooperation on binational divorce , Europolitics.info 12 July 2010 Council Regulation (EU) No 1259/2010, also known as the Rome III Regulation, was adopted on 20 December 2010 and came into force in the 14 participating states on 21 June 2012. Other EU Member state are permitted to sign up to the pact at a later date. Lithuania became the first state to join the agreement when they were approved by the commission on 21 November 2012. The provisions of the agreement applied to Lithuania as of 22 May 2014. Greece's participation was approved by the commission on 27 January 2014, making them the 16th member state to join the regulation, which applied to it as of 29 July 2015. Estonia's participation was approved by the Commission in August 2016, and the regulation applied to the member state as of 11 February 2018.
Unitary patent
The unitary patent, formally a "European patent with unitary effect", is the second case of enhanced cooperation adopted by the European Commission and Parliament. 26 Member States, all except Spain and Croatia (which acceded to the EU following the unitary patents adoption), participate in the unitary patent. Towards the end of 2010, twelve states (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom) proposed enhanced cooperation to work around disagreements with Italy and Spain over what languages a European patent would be translated into. The unitary patent would be examined and granted in one of the existing official languages of the European Patent Office – English, French or German. Following the Commission approval of the plan on 14 December 2010, the Council of the European Union requested the European Parliament's consent to use of enhanced cooperation for a unitary patent on 14 February 2011 with the participation of 25 member states (all but Italy and Spain). The Parliament approved it the next day and the Council authorised enhanced cooperation on 10 March 2011. On 13 April 2011 the Commission adopted a proposal for a Council Regulation implementing enhanced cooperation. During the European Council of 28–29 June 2012, agreement was reached on the provisions between the 25 member states. The necessary EU-legislation was approved by the European Parliament on 11 December 2012, and the regulations were approved 17 December 2012. Following a request by the government of Italy, it became a participant of the unitary patent regulations in September 2015.
The enhanced cooperation measures entered into force in January 2013, and will apply to a participating member state from the date when the related Agreement on a Unified Patent Court enters into force for the state. The UPC agreement has been signed by 25 EU member states, including all states participating in the enhanced cooperation measures except Poland; while Italy, on the other hand, signed the UPC agreement prior to joining the enhanced cooperation measures for a unitary patent. Poland decided to wait to see how the new patent system works before joining due to concerns that it would harm their economy. Entry into force of the UPC took place for the first group of ratifiers on 1 June 2023.
Property regimes of international couples
In June 2016, the Council of the European Union authorised 18 Member States of the European Union to initiate an enhanced cooperation in the area of jurisdiction, applicable law and the recognition and enforcement of decisions on the property regimes of international couples, covering both matters of matrimonial property regimes and the property consequences of registered partnership. Later that month, enhanced cooperation was implemented through Regulations EU 2016/1103 for married couples and EU 2016/1104 for registered partnerships, both of which will fully apply from 29 January 2019.
Ukraine Support Loan In January 2025, the European Commission proposed legislation to establish a €90 billion euro loan fund for Ukraine, to support it during its ongoing invasion by Russia. The funds will cover 2026 and 2027, with approximately €60 billion allocated military support and the remainder for general budgetary support. Due to objections from Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, the remaining 24 member states proceeded to establish the fund using enhanced cooperation, which was authorized by the Council of the European Union on 29 January 2026. The adoption of regulation establishing the fund was approved in February 2026 and finalised on 22 April 2026 after Viktor Orbán lifted Hungary's veto.
Proposals
Financial transaction tax